V. I.

Lenin

53

To:   G. V. PLEKHANOV

8.VIII. 02

Dear G. V., The comrade [1] we had been waiting for, and whom the old
friend [2] who brought you the money knows, arrived here yesterday. First
of all please tell this old friend to come here: he will be needed for
joint talks, and the newly-arrived comrade will be here no more than a week
and a half or two.

Further, about the new arrival seeing you. He himself wants to meet
you—and it would of course be very useful to the cause if he did. The
only question is whether you should try to come here earlier so as to be
sure to find him, or, on the contrary, whether you should wait for him in
Geneva, where he is going from here . Yesterday, before he knew
that you too would be here soon, he asked me for a letter to you.

Take this too into consideration: practically all the Rabocheye Dyelo people (Martynov, Akimov, Olkhin, Krichevsky, who is going
there, and others ) have gathered in Switzerland (in Montreux, if
I’m not mistaken) and our visitor is going there to see them . The
first impression is that he is an Iskra supporter, and Russian
friends recommend him as one. But ... just the same.... Mightn’t the Union
crowd (the Rabocheye Dyelo people) feed him a pack of lies? How
will it be if he sees them last and is unable perhaps to stand up to some new gossip, or the like? Therefore we think it might be better
if he made your acquaintance and saw you more than once in Geneva. You
could then perhaps talk things over with him both during his meetings with
the Union people and after. Then perhaps whatever new gossip there may be
could be squashed at once, etc.

Talk this over (with our old friend), decide where to meet the
new arrival, and let us have an answer as soon as possible. The worst thing
that could happen would be for you to miss each other.

If you decide to see him over there (but our old friend should come
here under all circumstances), we shall write you a detailed letter giving
all the information we have about him.

Is your mail address absolutely safe? Are you certain your letters will not be read?

Best regards, Yours, Lenin